Come on PEOPLE!

I saw all four shows on this run. The second set here was my favorite set of the run. Energy through the roof, what an amazing year it was for the boys. There were no bad shows.

Walstib do know!

With all due respect of the opinions posted here-You don't know the impact of these shows if you were not there. I was. say what you will listening out there in cyberspace. I saw Bill Graham on a scale model of the Golden Gate Bridge at midnight. Ken Kesey doing his skit durin set break. Mason Williams playing classical Gas live. It was a NYE run to make the books! BTW, the sudden transition between UJB and Estimated was astouning to everyone in attendance. It sounds chopped off here due to the track breaks.
Which is why I transfer all my DAT recordings as a single file-to avoid the track breaks.
It maintains the continuity-If ya know what I mean!

I can't believe this show doesn't get any love? Could easily be top 3 only behind maybe:
Madison 9/18
Kingswood 6/30
I'm having a real hard time not putting this Uncle Johns in top 10 all time discussion. Jack Straw, Peggy-o and Mr.Fantasy are in the top 20 discussion. I think I would put this show in the top 100 discussion, serious playing here folks!
It Must Have Been The Roses,Touch,Ramble On Rose Desolation, Walkin Blues, Playin, Eyes Of The World, Estimated, Stella Blue, T Stones, Lovelight and Quinn are all awesome!

Overall: this was a good opening to a solid New Years run. Nothing mind-blowing, but great song selection, well played, and this recording is an excellent SBD. The second set song list looks promising, but was not particularly special.

The scene: This was my first time out west for a New Year's run. My sister was a nanny down in Palo Alto and I stayed with her for the first few nights, then my buddy Chard flew in and we stayed at the Super 8 down the street from the Arena, where we'd end up staying at every NYE run for a few years. If memory serves, it was pouring rain on this night (and perhaps for the next couple of days as well?). I started the night near the back of the arena on the floor, then moved up to a little ledge area near a hallway entrence for a better view but still with room to dance. By the second set I was fully in the hallway (how can you not get your freak dance on with a Playin>Uncle>Estimated>Eyes?!), which from this night on became my standard place to be for arena shows (see my review of 11/7/85 for my first impression of seeing the hallway at a Dead show). I immediately loved the Oakland arena, perhaps partly b/c I had been fantasizing about being at a NYE run for so long. But the Oakland arena would eventually become my home-away-from-home arena, as I saw more shows there than at any other venue - 17 shows there between '87 and '91 altogether. But on this night, I was a 17 year-old kid with eyes wide open and loving this new environment.

The music: Set I: Really slow start to Jack Straw (not in a bad way, just slow tempo). Very rare is the day I criticise Brent, but his synth choice for the Jack Straw climax made me cringe a little (he uses the same sound again a couple of times later in the show with similar effect). Jerry puts some real punch into his singing of Ramble On Rose. Couple of nice sort-of-rare first set selections: Must've Been the Roses and Desolation Row. Both are excellent first set tunes that were never played often enough, as far as I'm concerned (compared to, say, Row Jimmy and Memphis Blues). Jerry's vocals sound strong and true in a late 80s relative way. Nice guitar work on Desolation Row as well.

Set II: Decent Playin' jam with an interesting, albiet not incredible, transition to Uncle John's. The transition into Estimated is abrupt and cuts off the usual jam at the end of Uncle John's. Bobby's vocal improv section for Estimated is good, but about the same as many others in this era (for a great one, check 6/30/87). Eyes is good but also short. Knowing that a Playin>Uncle>Estimated>Eyes could have lasted 2 hours just ten years prior really emphasizes the shortness of this one, but it's still good. They seem to get a little bogged down in a low-energy Fantasy out of space, Jerry picks it up a bit for his solo, but then it just sort of dies into a nice, but standard Stella Blue. Then they just sort of die again at the end of Stella and it takes Bobby a long awkward pause before finally deciding on Throwin' Stones. Bobby tries to spark things with some high energy snarl to his lyrics, with Mickey and Brent seeming to follow his lead. Lovelight ends the show on a high note, but it's pretty short. Bobby does some nice scream-singing, but it's nothing particularly noteworthy. Mighty Quinn is nice, but standard. I think Jerry may have run out of energy a bit toward the end or was trying to save it for the following shows.

o.k. started seeing live G.D. at age 15 (11.10.85) and here I am 22 years later waking up super early around 4:30 am on a friend's couch over looking the pacific on a high hill in san francisco (30th and pacheco)in the sunset disrict with fairly nice speakers hooked up to my laptop and still TOTALLY being thoroughly juiced by The Grateful Dead. Not that I straight up boycott 1987 recordings, ( due to maybe the struggle Jerry has with his voice some of the year {smoking brown JUNK's probably not beneficial for the vocal chords} or the fact that they took a great rocker like "touch of grey" and made a pop tune out of it ) but it's just not my most visited year. -ooo streaming SUGAREE from the next night!- So, i love it all pretty much -don't get me. After recording Gans' SBD or 3.2.87 off the radio waves while in boarding school a couple school mates and I used to completely wreck dorm rooms as we'd go into a room throw on the "STRANGER" from that show and have our own personal mosh pit... I am,too, going to re-visit that "DEW" from 3.2.87 directly as it is Jerome's 1st post fat man coma. sorry for my rambling-but try and stop me -as I head noodle to the formidable "SUGAR MAGZ" from 12.28.87 the black peter was very very sweet,too. (HEad Noodle: a term dubbed by me and Pieter Bergmans while we used to lay up in his loft drink beer and only have enough room to dance from our neck up)
So, I completely trust philnfunk in the review before me that the "JACK STRAW" is proqably hot and I will listen to it sometime in the future. I loved the "DESOLATION" and "DON'T EASE" closer. In desolation,as Garcia rips lines behind ,you can tell that Bobby is brimming with energy and enthusiasm-literally almost as if he wants to bust out of his skin. <--makes me go directly to "Estimated" Pretty great- as you have sweet leads post Bobby brimming. BUT- the true reason I clicked on REVIEW for this date (sort of excitement similar to that of brendanmcauley's review of the 1st and only "BIRD SONG" followed by "LOST SAILOR" 7.14.81) is THE FIST AND ONLY "FANTASY" followed by "STELLA BLUE" that everyone should be aware of and blast through their home sterios. 5 stars for the FANTASY-> STELLA 4.75 for the hot board (not a top notch board) though aything Charlie Miller helps with is usually kind I'd say. I have always wondered if it is the same Charlie Miller that zooped me for $20 bucks in front of the psychedelic shop while I was out here for the new years run '89-'90...PEACE

killer Jack Straw and an excellent second seT!

you can feel the energy on this recording... New Years looming ahead for sure!

This was the first of 4. Solid quality GD. I went to all four. The stories connected to this set of shows.. I won't tell for lack of their believability. However, there is a mean New Year's tale that I will tell...So there I was...

Pretty good show here, well, I should say average. Not too many standouts, but overall a quality show. The Peggy-O is really slowed down, much slower than the regular pace of the rest of the 80's Peggy-o's. Second set is sweet. Playin --> UJB transition is awesome. The eyes is really cool too. There is only about a 10 second intro before Jerry starts with the fisrt verse, kind of interesting. It's a short version too, but Brent has some pretty cool licks, and I must say what intrigued me most about this song was the beat that the rythym devils layed down. It's nothing too unusual, but it's different from all the other Eyes I've heard.

Sound quality-wise, there is nothing to complain about. Overall, if you got 3 blank cd-r's lyin around, you might as well burn this show.

my first west coast show, first new year's run, and it began on a high note. while i remember seriously digging bertha, cold rain, terrapin and wharf rat, nye sounded better overall on tape than i had experienced it -- high expectations'll disappoint the self (wasn't overly enthused by the nevilles' collaboration on 7-6-87 either, though that knockin' is nice). this first night, though, i was entranced. solid second set, better than worcester or hampton that spring: full bodied flavor with purple candace depth. now we're talkin'.

this show is worthy for the pre-drums selection and that section's song placement. all-in-all, a standout in '87 (not a particularly "jammy" year), and worthy of your ear.